Two Friends
by FropessionalWriter
Summary: "Hey, Cole, do you ever want to become human again? Do you enjoy anything about being a ghost?" "Kinda... I dunno. It's complicated." Even though Cole struggles with the fear of fading from existence, so does the rest of the team. Before DotD.


**If you're one of my readers of Unlikely, then you know that I skipped three weeks of updating (the three weeks including this week). Really sorry bout that guys, I had to prepare really hard for my finals this week, and of course I didn't over study cause that's not a good thing. And well, I finally finished! In fact, today was the last day and I've just been chillaxing in my sixth period (we didn't have a final, just a quick assignment from last week to finish).**

 **As a celebration of finishing our finals and getting through our frst year of high school, my friends and I FINALLY went to see _Wonder Woman_ :') it is such an amazing movie, truly is. I cried, mkay... man, back to the theater in less than a week! Then back again if I decide to watch Transformers! (I saw _Cars 3_ over the weekend and wow, the childhood memories just come crawling back to me. So much nostalgic vibes. Believe me when I say, _Cars_ is such a huge part of my childhood and Lightning McQueen was and still is one of my absolute favorite characters since then.) Kachow!**

 **Hah, I may have entered the theater today when seeing** _ **Wonder Woman**_ **yelling** **KACHOW!** **at my friends. It was... Really loud. XD**

 **So I finished this oneshot that I found sitting in my files for quote a while and decided to upload it for you guys in place of the three chapters I missed.**

 **Because this has been sitting in my files for a long long time, this takes place before DotD.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Jay was the first of the group to have seen Cole fade away.

Well, almost fade away.

It was like Cole was no longer a part of this world. It scared him.

One minute, the two of them were playing a game of chess on the deck, and the next, Cole began panicking, his hand gone. The chess piece dropped and Cole stared wide eyed at what used to be his hand. And on the inside and outside, Jay too began to panic.

He didn't know what was happening. He didn't know what to do. All he could do was stare.

After a few seconds of screaming, Jay attempted at calming Cole down, but the ghost just continued to freak. Nya had overheard the screaming and rushed to their aid, turning Cole so that she could see him eye to eye.

The ghost looked worried. It devastated Jay to see him that way. The look of fear plastered on his face, the way his eyes pleaded with sorrow.

4:30 AM

It was 4:30 AM and Jay was the first one up.

Jay gazed about outside on the Bounty deck, resting his arms on the rail. He relaxed and sighed to himself, staring at the horizon before him. It was hard for him to sleep, the fear of waking up to find Cole gone coming back to haunt him constantly.

Nya had assured Jay that everything would be alright. And so did the rest of the team. He just didn't feel it inside; he couldn't lose his best friend. Not now, not today, not while they were still trying to fix what was broken between them.

Tears started to gather. They were painful. His vision became all but a blur and he stood without anyone there to comfort him. Jay moved his arm up and struggled to wipe away the tears that were already coming out.

He didn't want to worry the team. He just wanted Cole back.

"Hey."

Jay's eyes popped wide open and he quickly dried away the tears from his face, turning around, wearing a fake smile.

"H-Hey," he responded, choking on his own words.

The other walked closer and stood beside him on the deck, resting his arms and clasping his hands together.

"You're up early…"

Jay picked at the edge of his eyes and turned his head to Cole, swallowing.

"Y-Yeah…"

"Um, what are you doing all the way here? On the Bounty? We got the whole Temple… and you decided to come here?"

Jay shrugged wanting to avoid any more suggestion of a conversation starting between the two of them.

"I guess I just felt like being alone…"

Cole bowed his head. "Something on your mind?"

"Um, n-no, it's all good… thanks for asking."

Cole turned to face Jay and looked over him. That fake smile that Jay had greeted Cole with was now replaced with a frown, longing to be turned back upside down.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I said I'm fine. Why are you up?"

"Scared."

Jay placed his elbow on the rail of the Bounty, and rested his head in the palm of his hand. He looked away. "Oh…" he mumbled.

"I'm scared that I'll disappear again."

 _Me too_ , Jay thought.

"I just don't know how to control it! I don't even know _why_ I'm fading away in the first place. Are - are people forgetting me? Is it something to do with my ghostly form? I'm scared, Jay. I don't know what to do… what would you do?"

The master of lightning was surprised by that last sentence. What would _he_ do? He would find a way to stop Cole from disappearing all the time. He would give anything to turn Cole back to a human. He would stand by Cole for as long as he needed too if that made him feel any better. Besides, what better solution was there than to have a friend by your side?

He didn't want to start crying again. He looked like a wimp. Jay looked away from Cole, feeling the tears coming back.

"Jay?"

Cole heard a few sniffles and he froze, hand on the rail, but closer to the blue ninja. "Hey… don't cry… not for me, you can't."

Jay was shaking now, lifting his arms up to wipe at his face again. He took in a couple of breaths, trying to settle himself. How did he do it again? When Nya was in his arms and he cried too… how did he manage to speak? However he did, if must've been easy, because now, it was just hard. Really hard. He couldn't even say _I_.

He felt Cole's hand on his back. Oh good, he was still there.

He struggled to choke out the words. "W-Who says I can't c-cry for y-you? You're my f-friend, of cour-se I'll c-cry."

Cole stared at Jay, his entire face red from all the tears. Jay looked miserable. His blue eyes were always brightening up any room, but now they were dimmer than usual. His hair was ruffled from when Jay woke up, but what saddened Cole the most, was to see the most happiest member of the team, sad. Because of him.

"C'mere," Cole said, pulling Jay into a warm hug, the sudden thought of being very easily exposed to water slipping by. Cole wrapped his arms around Jay's back, and he felt them solidify. Jay did the same and he rested his chin on Cole's ghostly shoulder.

"Heh, _you're_ scared? I'm afraid too… I don't want to lose you again…" Jay murmured, eyes locking onto the wooden floor.

"You're not going to lose me, Jay. Nobody is."

"You say that with so much confidence… what if you're wrong? I lost you once, I almost lost Zane, almost lost Nya, I can't - won't lose you again. We only _just_ got out of our silly feud over Nya last year… and then weeks later, you're a ghost! It's not easy ya know? So much has happened, I've lost track of time. And, friendships don't just fix like that… they take time to heal. But if you're gone by then… I… I don't know… just, my whole life is a mess."

Jay sat for a while, his arms still tightly holding Cole. His entire body felt real. It felt nice. Jay didn't want to move, really. He could stay like this and drift off to sleep, and Cole wouldn't mind. Or at least, he thought.

Suddenly, he heard Cole beginning to chuckle. The ghost pushed Jay back a little so that he could see his friend's face.

"You think _you're_ life's a mess? Yeah right, get outta here!"

Jay's shoulders raised slightly and he laughed. Cole was right, they _all_ had messed up lives now. Lloyd skipped a few years, got possessed, lost his father to a powerful evil and then lost him for good in the Preeminent; Zane was a nindroid and died, but was all of the sudden rebuilt; Nya was forced to marry a djinn and almost died, and Kai… well, let's just say he almost lost his sister. Twice.

"Hey, but really, don't worry about it much, kay? If I ever start to drift off again, just come after me. _I_ should be doing the most worrying." Cole ran his thumbs up and down the fabric on Jay's shoulders, glad he could touch solid objects again.

Jay thought for a bit as Cole brought his hand to his chest and frowned when it returned back to it's ghostly form.

Their bond was different from what Kai and Lloyd shared. Kai and Lloyd seemed to always be in sync with one another - they rarely fought and disagreed with each other. Sure they would tease one another and look out for each other, but nothing had ever come between them. Maybe except for Morro; that was when Kai really took charge on his role as Lloyd's sort of guardian. Jay then looked at the bond he shared with Cole. They didn't always get along, they _weren't_ always nice to one another, they weren't the same like Kai and Lloyd. They would tease each other time to time, fight, call each other names - they even let a girl get between them… But the truth was, they balanced each other out.

Being different from someone else didn't necessarily mean you couldn't be friends. In fact, you could learn so many new things from one another.

Jay was funny, optimistic, light-hearted and always looking on the positive side of things. Cole was strong, mentally and physically, he was serious and also caring. They both had their quirks and their ups and downs in their relationship, but in the end, they were brothers. Just as Kai and Lloyd are.

They were _all_ family.

They all looked out for one another, grew strong relationships with each other, learned new things and shared secrets and whatnot.

And he was thankful for the family he was given. The people who truly cared for him and the people he truly cared for.

"It's… nice you know," Cole started as he slowly came back to the position of leaning against the railing while gazing off into the horizon. Jay turned his head and tilted his head. "No wonder you got up early to come out here. It's quiet, there's fresh air, and it's a nice place for you to think all to yourself with no one to bother you. And on the plus side, the view is nice."

The corners of Jay's lips rose up and he nodded, looking back at where the sky met the ground. A breeze of cool air swept through his hair and he closed his eyes, his smile never fading.

"Hey, Cole, do you ever want to become human again? Like… you're afraid of disappearing but do you enjoy everything else about being a ghost?"

Cole's hand dropped through the rail and he clenched it by his side. "Kinda. I dunno. It's complicated… being a ghost has it's advantages for me and for the team, but it'd be nice to become human again. To feel things, to feel like you're actually there and not a spirit who drifts off from time to time. Sometimes I wish I had the ability to switch between forms."

"Well, that would be awesome. If you had the power to do that, I think I'd want to do that too." Jay drummed his fingers against the rail.

A silence fell between them while Cole kept his gaze on the view before them. The sun slowly began to rise, lighting up the sky with shades of orange, blue, and pink. The light reflected off Cole's eyes.

"By the way, I've been wondering, do you prefer Zaptrap or Motormouth? See, I came up with this huge list of nicknames specifically for you as time flew by, but it's too much work just to name all of them, so I gotta stick with one or maybe a few. And I've narrowed it down to Zaptrap and Motormouth. Besides, those have stuck around since the very beginning. They're old school."

"Then why don't you just use them both?"

Cole shrugged carelessly. "I gotta find _one_ to stick with at least. Or else I'd be switching back forth from Zaptrap _and_ Motormouth."

"Well I personally don't like any of them."

"Of course you don't."

"So then why are you asking my opinion on it?"

"I figured, it's _your_ nickname, and you should have a say in which one you prefer best."

"How bout just Jay?"

"You mean like _blue jay_?" Cole asked with a smirk.

"Jay. J-a-y."

"How bout Jay with an _e_ instead of an _a_."

"Doesn't make much of a difference when you say it."

"Zaptrap it is I guess."

"I never said yes to that!" Jay looked to his right to hide the grimace from Cole. "Besides… you gonna start yelling Zaptrap when we're on the battlefield?" He snorted at the thought.

Cole chuckled softly and leaned forward over his folded arms on the rail. "That would be pretty funny, and I think there should be a bit of humor when we're fighting the bad guys." He elbowed Jay quickly. "See, when you don't think about the bad stuff, it feels good right?"

"Sure does," Jay agreed. "Feels like we could just talk for hours without a care in the world." He added, his voice drifting off.

"Hey, you okay? We just had such a conversation and now you look a little blue." Cole asked.

Jay smiled and dragged his arm across his face. "Yeah, I'm totally fine." He cast a glance at Cole. "I feel a lot better knowing that you're here and I'm not the only one afraid."

Cole cracked a grin. "Me and you both."

* * *

 **I hope you all liked it!**

 **I really love how different they are, but how they can still get along and be good friends. I actually encourage you guys to watch an MLP episode that aired two days ago. It's called _Discordant Harmony_ and explains how it's okay to be different, but that doesn't mean you can't still be friends :) really really good.**

 **Also, I asked for requests on my last oneshot and I still need to get to those, but i wanted to open it again... so if you have any requests, feel free to suggest!**

 **I do have some restrictions to requests and if you're afraid your request goes over that line then just message me :)**

 **See ya around! Unlikely should be updated next week!**


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